The only difference between Spitzer and other politicians is that he was caught.

I say give the kid a whore and put him back in the game.

Everyone is forgetting Spitzer didn't leave office because he cheated on his wife with future NY Post writers/hookers.

Spitzer was facing federal felony charges for sending large amounts of money for an illegal purpose across state lines.

Can we please stop pretending like the across state lines means anything.

Spitzer used the very same legal techniques as a federal prosecutor to send organized crime figures to prison.

He though by sending less than $10,000 a transaction would put him under the radar, but instead got the Feds investigating why a sitting NY governor is sending so much money around the country.

Had he just done everything locally, then he and his socks could still be in Albany.

Repeat: if this were Europe, it wouldn't be news.

America was founded by Puritans and other religious zealots, and their legacy lingers in politics and even on a presumed hip blog in a supposedly cosmopolitan city.

I'm outta here. My response to any future comments:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Clumsy and fallacious hermeneutic of a Biblical verse. But since you like to cite the very scriptures that "zealots" love and esteem, embrace the irony --- you just cast the first stone with your sweeping and reductionist criticism. Bon Voyage, out.

One can quote scripture without being a zealot, just as one can label a nation 'puritan' but never condmen it for sinning. Being a puritan isn't a sin, is it?

Meanwhile, try reading the Scarlet Letter in case you missed it in Lit 101.

Will do. Thanks for the morality lesson. And since you're clearly humble and tolerant enough to accept other opinions, perhaps you can take a basic course in rhetoric and logic. Your words border on neologisms.

Thanks for the compliment.

But there is no need for me to take Logic; already scored an A.

And I think 8 semesters of theology give me as much right to quote verse as owning a computer gives you the right to display your pedantry.

Compliment? Narcissism and delusion, ha! Kinda like Spitzer.

ooh deep and to the point. i like.

oh for crying out loud, why don't we wonder what would have happened if he hadn't hired hookers (and on an interstate basis, to boot) instead of blaming society for having a problem with his illegal actions. he is the reason his potential was squandered. though, i will happily concede that it's hypocritical not to demand other politicians resign for illegal acts that don't involve penises.

especially when he was charged with - and profited politically from - shutting down the same kind of businesses he patronized.

but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, or so the thinking goes.

I don't know about you, but knowing an elected official is cheating on his wife by paying whores doesn't instill a feeling of confidence in his judicial abilities, not to mention his lack of a moral compass.

"wonder how things might have been different if our political culture's hypocritical puritanism hadn't forced Spitzer out over some stupid (okay, fine, technically illegal) infidelities. "

How true. In Europe or Asia, his indiscretion would have been in the news one day and quickly forgiven.

If Cuomo runs for Guv and frees up AG spot, here's hoping Spitzer gets back on the ladder. The guy is fierce.